Cal Poly Loses Two

By Michael Zavala

The opportunities were there for the women’s basketball
team.

However, despite staying tough, a controversial call in one game
and crucial turnovers in another led to Cal Poly dropping 2-of-3
games.

The Broncos (6-15, 5-11) fell to San Francisco State Saturday,
69-74. The loss came one night after Cal Poly snapped its
three-game losing streak by defeating Cal State Monterey Bay,
70-58.

On February 6, the Broncos lost to Cal State San Bernardino,
53-57. The Coyotes were afforded a chance to keep their late-game
lead when referees ruled that San Bernardino called time out before
a five-second inbound violation, reversing a seemingly forced
turnover by Cal Poly.

“Tuesday night was a heartbreaker because we thought we’d been
in position to take a lead,” said head coach Michelle Fortier.

On Saturday, the Broncos were within two with 45 seconds left,
but an inside pass from junior Ally Smith to sophomore Natasha Reed
was stolen by San Francisco State’s Jessica Hout-Freeman.

The Gators sank 3-of-4 free throws in the final seconds to
secure the victory.

“It’s the same story that it has been all season,” said Fortier.
“Bad decisions, bad execution. We shoot ourselves in the foot when
we have a chance to win.”

Both teams were strong offensively, with San Francisco State
shooting 45.9 percent from the field and Cal Poly shooting 48.3
percent in the first half.

Junior Ashley Moody led four Broncos in double figures with 17
points. Junior Vanessa Dominguez added a double-double, scoring 13
points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

The Gators’ Ashlee Austin-Bean led all scorers with 22
points.

San Francisco State jumped to an early 9-point lead, 15-6, but
Cal Poly quickly erased the deficit, tying the game off a Moody
3-pointer.

“Moody played well off the bench,” said Fortier. “She gave us
great numbers.”

The two teams continued the struggle by tying nine times in the
first half. Cal Poly led by three at the break.

The Broncos came out strong in the second, grabbing a 6-point
lead, but the Gators came back to take a 6-point lead of their own
off an Austin-Bean jumper.

And with the game close, San Francisco State put the pressure on
Cal Poly until the end with its trap defense.

“We knew they would be more athletic [than us],” said Fortier.
“[We knew] they’d try to trap us and force us into making bad
decisions.”

On Friday, the Broncos avenged an early-season loss to Monterey
Bay by playing a blistering first half, shooting 64 percent from
the field overall and 5-of-9 from 3-point range.

Freshman Jessica Hopkins led the team with 13 points. Junior
Porsche’ Kirksey and Moody both scored 12 points.

The Otters kept pace with the Broncos in the beginning, coming
to within three with 12:24 left in the half.

Then Cal Poly caught fire, running its lead to 14 at one point,
and taking a 41-30 lead into halftime.

“The feeling of losing is the worst feeling ever,” said Hopkins.
“We weren’t going to let them win.”

A shaky second half start from Cal Poly allowed Monterey Bay to
come within six, but from there the Broncos kept steady, and rung
up a 12-point victory.

Cal Poly returns to the court on the road Friday at Cal State
Stanislaus and Saturday at Chico State.

Michael Zavala can be reached by e-mail at
sports@thepolypost.com or by phone at (909) 869-4630.

Cal Poly Loses Two